Sourdough Biscuits Using Discard
These quick, same-day, same-hour sourdough biscuits are so delicious, you'd never know they were this easy to bake! The best part is that they use sourdough discard, which means you don't even have to wait for your starter to rise. Just pull your discard jar out of the refrigerator and bake away!
If you're interested in learning more about sourdough, check out my sourdough posts that explain how I simplified the sourdough process and how to make sourdough work with your unique schedule! You can find my first post here.
What's the Secret for Perfect Sourdough Biscuits?
The secret for perfect, flaky sourdough biscuits is to keep everything you can cold! That means cold discard, cold milk, and a stick of frozen (yes, frozen!) butter! The bits and layers of butter are what creates those delicious, flaky layers in your biscuits, so we want everything to be cold to keep the butter from melting when you're mixing.
Can I Use Active Starter and Ferment Longer?
If you're wanting longer fermented sourdough biscuits, you can certainly use an active starter and ferment for longer! If you're going this route, leave the baking powder out, as the active starter will act as your rising agent instead.
Mix your dough, cover it, and let it ferment in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. After fermenting, take out and continue with the recipe as written.
Tools
If you need any tools for this recipe, below is a list of my favorite and what you'll see me using in the video.
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Recipe Video
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder (leave out if using active starter and fermenting in refrigerator)
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan)
- 1 stick frozen butter
- 1 cup milk of choice (I usually use a plant-based milk, but you can use whatever you have on hand!)
- 1/2 cup cold sourdough discard
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix.
Grate the frozen butter using a grater or food processor with a grating attachment.
Add to flour mixture and toss to evenly coat butter with flour mixture.
Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea-sized crumbles.
Add milk and cold sourdough discard to the flour mixture and mix until dough just comes together.
Flour a clean surface, turn dough out, and roll into 1/2-3/4 inch thick.
Use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut biscuits. Roll out and cut more biscuits until you are out of dough.
Place biscuits into a greased baking dish. I love using a pie dish because it's what my Nanny used to cook her biscuits in.
Place into preheated oven for 15 minutes, until tops are browned or until biscuits reach an inner temperature of 200 degree Fahrenheit.